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Direct Invitations

Inviting specific participants via email or unique links

Updated today

Direct invitations allow you to recruit specific individuals without using a panel provider. This is useful for customer research, internal testing, or when you have your own participant list.

When to Use Direct Invitations

  • Customer research - Invite existing customers via email

  • Employee research - Survey internal teams

  • Partner research - Reach specific stakeholders

  • VIP interviews - Recruit high-value participants individually

  • Testing - Generate test links for QA before launch

Creating an Invitation

Generate an Invitation Link

  1. Navigate to the Recruit tab of your study

  2. Click Invite Participants or find the direct invitation section

  3. Enter the participant's email address

  4. Click Generate Link

  5. Copy the unique link and share it

Each invitation generates a unique link in the format:

https://app.deepfield-ai.com/consumer?token={unique_token}

What Happens When You Invite

  1. A unique survey link is created

  2. The participant is added to your respondent list (status: Pending)

  3. You can share the link via email, message, or any channel

  4. When they visit the link, they begin the survey

Sharing Options

Copy Link

After generating an invitation, click Copy Link to copy it to your clipboard. You can then:

  • Paste into an email

  • Share via messaging apps

  • Include in calendar invites

  • Add to customer communications

Email Integration

If your email client is configured, you can:

  1. Click the email icon after generating a link

  2. A pre-filled email opens with the link included

  3. Customize the message and send

Managing Invitations

Tracking Invitation Status

In the Responses tab, you can see invitation status:

Status

Meaning

Pending

Invitation sent, not yet started

Started

Participant began the survey

Completed

Survey finished

Screened Out

Failed screening questions

Aborted

Started but quit

Resending Invitations

If a participant hasn't responded:

  1. Find them in the Responses list

  2. Generate a new invitation link

  3. Resend via your preferred channel

Test Mode Invitations

Before launching to real participants, use test mode to verify your survey works correctly.

Generating Test Links

  1. Click Generate Test Link

  2. A unique test link is created

  3. Use this link to walk through the survey yourself

  4. Test participants are marked separately from real respondents

Test Mode Features

  • Test responses don't count toward your quota

  • You can generate multiple test links

  • Test data is tracked separately in analytics

  • Useful for QA and stakeholder previews

Panel Provider Integration

For larger-scale recruitment, you can combine direct invitations with panel providers.

Panel Links

When using a panel provider:

  1. Configure your panel settings

  2. The system generates a panel-specific link

  3. Share this link with your panel provider

  4. Respondents use a URL format: /consumer?pid={panelId}&rid={respondentId}

Redirect URLs

Configure where participants go after completing the survey:

Redirect Type

When Used

Success redirect

Participant completes successfully

Screen-out redirect

Participant fails screening

Quality-stopped redirect

Response quality too low

These URLs are useful for panel provider integrations that need to track completion status.

Best Practices

Email Invitations

  • Personalize - Use the participant's name if you have it

  • Explain the purpose - Tell them why you're reaching out

  • Set expectations - Mention estimated time and any incentives

  • Provide context - Explain how their feedback will be used

  • Include deadline - If time-sensitive, mention when to complete by

Link Management

  • Don't share links publicly - Each link is for one participant

  • Track who received which link - Maintain your own records

  • Set appropriate expiration - Links expire after a reasonable period

  • Use test links for QA - Never test with real invitation links

Response Rates

To improve response rates:

  • Send reminders to non-responders

  • Keep surveys short and focused

  • Offer appropriate incentives

  • Follow up personally for important participants

Security

Link Security

  • Each invitation link contains a unique token

  • Tokens are single-use and expire

  • Links cannot be guessed or enumerated

  • All survey data is encrypted

Participant Privacy

  • Email addresses are stored securely

  • Responses can be anonymized if needed

  • Data is not shared with third parties

  • Participants can request data deletion

Troubleshooting

Link Not Working

If a participant reports their link doesn't work:

  1. Check if the link was copied correctly

  2. Verify the link hasn't expired

  3. Generate a new invitation link

  4. Confirm the survey is in published or testing status

Participant Started But Can't Continue

If a participant's session was interrupted:

  • They can use the same link to resume

  • Progress is saved automatically

  • If issues persist, generate a new link

Duplicate Invitations

If you accidentally invite the same email twice:

  • The system may warn about duplicates

  • Each invitation creates a separate link

  • Track which link the participant should use

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